Phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge ash through an electrodialytic process

The electrodialytic separation process (ED) was applied to sewage sludge ash (SSA) aiming at phosphorus (P) recovery. As the SSA may have high heavy metals contents, their removal was also assessed. Two SSA were sampled, one immediately after incineration (SA) and the other from an open deposit (SB). Both samples were ED treated as stirred suspensions in sulphuric acid for 3, 7 and 14 days. After 14 days, phosphorus was mainly mobilized towards the anode end (approx. 60% in the SA and 70% in the SB), whereas heavy metals mainly electromigrated towards the cathode end. The anolyte presented a composition of 98% of P, mainly as orthophosphate, and 2% of heavy metals. The highest heavy metal removal was achieved for Cu (ca. 80%) and the lowest for Pb and Fe (between 4% and 6%). The ED showed to be a viable method for phosphorus recovery from SSA, as it promotes the separation of P from the heavy metals.     

Simulating the effects of frequent fire on southern California coastal shrublands.

Fire disturbance is a primary agent of change in the mediterranean-climate chaparral shrublands of southern California, USA. However, fire frequency has been steadily increasing in coastal regions due to ignitions at the growing wildland-urban interface. Although chaparral is resilient to a range of fire frequencies, successively short intervals between fires can threaten the persistence of some species, and the effects may differ according to plant functional type. California shrublands support high levels of biological diversity, including many endangered and endemic species. Therefore, it is important to understand the long-term effects of altered fire regimes on these communities. A spatially explicit simulation model of landscape disturbance and succession (LANDIS) was used to predict the effects of frequent fire on the distribution of dominant plant functional types in a study area administered by the National Park Service. Shrubs dependent on fire-cued seed germination were most sensitive to frequent fire and lost substantial cover to other functional types, including drought-deciduous subshrubs that typify coastal sage scrub and nonnative annual grasses. Shrubs that resprout were favored by higher fire frequencies and gained in extent under these treatments. Due to this potential for vegetation change, caution is advised against the widespread use of prescribed fire in the region.     

Reduction of the association preference for conspecifics in cave-dwelling Atlantic mollies, Poecilia mexicana

Cave animals are widely recognised as model organisms to study regressive evolutionary processes like the reduction of eyes. In this paper, we report on the regressive evolution of species discrimination in the cave molly, Poecilia mexicana, which, unlike other cave fishes, still has functional eyes. This allowed us to examine the response to both visual and non-visual cues involved in species discrimination. When surface-dwelling females were given a chance to associate with either a conspecific or a swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii) female, they strongly preferred the conspecific female both when multiple cues and when solely visual cues were available to the female. No association preference was observed when only non-visual cues were provided. In contrast, cave-dwelling females showed no preference under all testing conditions, suggesting that species recognition mechanisms have been reduced. We discuss the role of species discrimination in relation to habitat differences.     

Biologische Detektionsverfahren in der Dünnschichtchromatographie

The goal of this work is to make ecotoxicologically-relevant substance bands visible on thin-layer chromatographic plates. Bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Vibrio fischeri, Salmonella typhimurium), fungi (Aspergillus niger), algi (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) and pollen (Impatiens walleriana) were used as test organisms. With the aid of these organisms, it has been possible to identify bactericide, fungicide, algicide, phytotoxic and genotoxic bands.     

Testing the extended biotic index in Slovakia: consistency, advantages, and limitations versus the saprobic assessment method of water quality.

The European Union Water Framework Directive requires the achievement of environmental objectives for the ecological quality of water bodies. A comparable implementation of the Directive throughout member countries of the European Union is necessary to verify equal protection of surface waters. The Directive specifies that member states determine ecological quality by means of biological indices. To improve comparability of water quality assessment, this research carried out an intercalibration trial between the Slovak Saprobic Index and the Italian protocol of the Extended Biotic Index, as part of a cooperative program between Italy and the Slovak Republic. When assessing streams with no or low pollution, statistics showed similar results for both methods. In contrast, the comparison of indices was not accurate in the case of severely affected waters. Reliable conversion formulas are feasible to transform the Italian Extended Biotic Index into the Slovak Saprobic Index, and not vice versa.     

Teil II: L?sungsans?tze für den landwirtschaftlichen Betrieb bei der Implementierung eines Umweltmanagementsystems

Zusammenfassung  Die Erfassung der Ist-Situation im Rahmen der Umweltprüfung bildet die Grundlage für effiziente Schritte im Rahmen der Implementierung von Umweltmanagementsystemen (UMS). Diese Basis-analyse stützt sich auf die Elemente Wirkungsaudit, Management-audit und Rechtsaudit. Durch die optimale Ausgestaltung einer Umweltprüfung wird bei der Implementierung eines UMS auch in der Landwirtschaft die Basis für einen maximalen Nutzen des Anwenders geschaffen. Dieser Nutzen ist etwa für den Betrieb in seinen Innenbeziehungen, die Transparenz der Betriebsabl?ufe, ?konomische Gesichtspunkte, wie z.B. Einsparpotentiale, Informationsgewinnung sowie Effizienzgesichtspunkte durch die Dokumentation der Ablauforganisation. Darüber hinaus nutzt ein UMS bei externen Anforderungen, wie z.B. beim Umgang mit der ?ffentlichkeit, Marktpartnern, der Stellung gegenüber Beh?rden, Deregulierung oder Haftungsminimierung.